What a shock this weekend has been – snow showers and frost. Just as we were beginning to think the hardy annuals and perennials would last forever. With the help of a very good friend I had done a major rearrangement of my small garden a couple of weeks ago. Plants that had proved to be taller than expected, probably due to all the earlier rain, have now been moved to the back and the smaller plants that were outgrowing their given space have been spread out and a few new ones fitted in.

For a touch of sheer elegance to your flower garden you don’t have to look further than iris. They really are one of those ‘no garden should be without’ plants. Not only surprisingly
easy to grow and they come in a variety of forms including some that live happily in water, some that prefer a moist boggy area around ponds, whilst others will add their own impact in borders or
rockeries.

As a group they are both vigorous and relatively trouble-free - you would think that these two assets alone would make them highly prized but life doesn't seem to work that way and buddleias tend
to be treated as poor relations in the plant world, seemingly because they have minimum requirements and will grow in most situations.

Following the lack of snow and rain over the winter months I suppose it was inevitable that there would be warnings of a water shortage but it seems increasingly probable that there will be a
hosepipe ban.

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